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Sustainable Braking®

Road

The patented Ogab® Sustainable Braking system offers increased safety levels, optimised brake performance, and significantly reduces the damaging environmental impact caused during the product life cycle of disc brakes and pads on road vehicles.

OGAB®

Sustainable
Braking®

Consider that to produce one 8.77Kg brake disc creates up to 19.9Kg of CO2 emissions We aim to reduce the unnecessary replacement of brake discs by extending their lifespan and preventing the needless energy consumption to reproduce them. Offering a fully sustainable system and powered by energy that would otherwise be lost, our Active Flow Technology can also be utilised to collect harmful particulate matter from brake wear at the point of friction to reduce its harmful impact on both the environment and public health.

The primary aim of our technology is to improve vehicle safety by preventing temperature escalation from reaching dangerous levels. In turn, this also slows down break wear as they operate at cooler temperatures. Maximising the life cycle of brakes will mitigate the ongoing damages to the environment with how much energy we consume in making and recycling brake components. Especially when you consider that to produce one 8.77Kg brake disc, up to 19.9KgCO2 eq is emitted. If you’d like to read more about this, please view our environmental report pages.

The action of braking generates massive amounts of heat, and brake components have a relatively narrow temperature window within which they can safely operate. Furthermore, brake performance degrades drastically when they exceed their maximum temperature rating. Brake rotors (ie brake discs) are usually designed to dissipate heat.

Aerodynamic cooling of brake discs through convection is the primary mechanism for cooling brake discs. However, in vehicles with a wheel well (such as cars) and those where the brake rotors are located within the barrel of the wheel, the air around the brake discs is relatively slow-moving compared to the speed of the vehicle with limited capacity to transfer heat and causes heat build-up around the brake components. By applying air from a high-pressure source, the brakes can shed heat more rapidly and significantly lowering the average operating temperature due to higher heat transfer coefficients imposed by the Sustainable braking technology.

Ogab® Sustainable Braking utilises patented Active Flow Control Technology that is powered only by energy that would be otherwise be lost.

Brake Dust Particulate

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In-House Testing

At our HQ we have completed a number of tests using our advanced brake simulation rig. The rig includes an enclosed brake assembly that incorporates both the active cooling and particle capture features of our Sustainable Braking technology. As anticipated, the tests yield a huge positive for safety and the environment  with an evident reduction in heat escalation within the disc and pads as well as the prevention of particulate matter from brake wear entering the atmosphere.

Out test rig includes a full brake assembly that we have enclosed for active cooling and particle capture testing.

Enclosing the assembly in tandem with our particle suction system allows up to 100% of particulate matter caused by brake wear to be captured and more importantly, prevented from entering the atmosphere. Within the enclosure the operating temperature of the brakes are controlled by active cooling to prevent heat escalation and offer an optimised temperature window for the friction pair to operate in.

The brake assembly enclosure allows up to 100% capture of particulate matter from brake wear.

We also tested the assembly enclosure and particle suction system with additional “artificial” particulate matter to gauge the performance of the system with higher volumes of PM emissions present.

Any particulate dust that was entered in to the brake assembly enclosure was captured completely

The capture of Particulate Matter within the enclosure includes PM10, PM2.5, making the system a comprehensive method of capturing PM emissions from brake wear.

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CFD Analysis

CFD simulations were employed to understand impacts on drag force (if any). We also tested the key benefits of active cooling to prevent heat escalation and reduce peak temperature in the disc.

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Simulation Results

We have completed simulation tests on an Audi A4 car travelling at 70 miles per hour, which stops in 3.24 seconds. The transient simulation for the test was set for 10 seconds in which for the first 3.24 seconds the car reduces its speed linearly from 70 miles per hour to zero and then remains stationary up to t=10s. The tests were carried out on the two key test cases, with and without brake cooling. 

The results of overall car drag force during the 10 seconds are shown below for the case without brake cooling and the case with brake cooling. As evident, the cooling has not significantly affected the drag force.
The results of front wheel drag force during the 10 seconds is illustrated as below. As evident, the cooling has not significantly affected the drag force.
At the same time, the brake cooling technology proves to be effective in reducing the brake disc average volume temperature as depicted below:
Also, the turbulent intensity for various time moments and for both cases is presented in the figure below:

By optimizing the operational brake disc temperature and preventing excessive heat accumulation, maximum efficiency and safety standards are maintained. This ensures shorter stopping distances and an extended lifespan for brake discs in road vehicles. Keeping the disc at an optimal temperature prevents degradation from friction and extreme heat, significantly prolonging the brake disc’s life. This extended lifespan reduces the environmental impact from manufacturing demand and recycling struggles associated with inefficient discs and pads. Additionally, lowering the burn-up of pads at high braking temperatures reduces toxic emissions, benefiting both environmental health and society.

In addition to this, the current braking technology relies heavily on passive air flow movement through the brake discs which is not very efficient in heat dissipation during motion. Ogab® technology however, relies on its separate active cooling system that injects air and allowing the brake assembly to be either covered or housed, making it possible to capture the deadly particles from brake wear before they enter the atmosphere. There are many ways of achieving this, including using a selective catalytic reduction unit. Alternatively, it would be possible to collect the harmful particles in a separate unit that could be then disposed of safely at a designated recycling centre or the local automotive dealer’s workshop facilities.

Offering innovation for a brighter future, Ogab®Sustainable Braking gives the solution to a problem that affects us all in our day-to-day lives. 

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Years of prototyping & Testing

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Production Examples​

With OGAB® Road Sustainable Breaking there can be endless colour and finishing options to match your cars body or wheel colour and theme. See some of our examples below…​

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Aero Smoothy Wheels

Get the full facts and insight on the brake disc product life cycle​

Ogab® can help make a change for the better. Contact us today to enquire about our Sustainable Braking technology and how it can help you.